The Bet
by Bottom of the Food Chain
Summary: Scorpius Malfoy, a well renowned womanizer, and Rose Weasley, a prideful wild child, have been enemies since they've met. What happens when they're tricked into a bet that requires them to act as a couple?
1. Double Dog Dare Ya'

**The Bet**

_Chp 1, I Double Dog Dare Ya _

"Get lost, Malfoy." Rose snarled, her usually calm and fluid aura instantly crackling to that of feelings close to hatred. The air became dense with the mutual feelings of disdain towards one another. Albus, Roxanne, and Louis all whom of which had accompanied Rose- chuckled as quietly as possible, trying to keep it down so as to hear the conversation that would surely follow. Everyone knew of the rivalry between Rose Weasley and Scorpius Malfoy; It was practically a fact given about the school as the first years arrived. "This is the Great Hall, there are moving stair cases, Rose and Scorpius hate each other." That was just the way it was.

"I don't believe I shall. This is, after all, property of all the students in Hogwarts." He challenged, the signature grin plastered to his lips. After this proclamation, he screeched a chair across the floor, sat down, and dropped all of his belongings onto the table. Rosie could feel her blood boil on the spot.

"Well then, I would so appreciate it if you were to shut your slimy trap so I could get some work done." She stated , grinding her teeth together and piercing into his grey orbs with her own deep sea blue ones. Neither gaze faltered for a couple of moments, the two stubborn sixth years being notorious for never backing down.

It was in moments like these that Rose became confused. All the lines blurred, and their normally simple relationship became suddenly so complex. Times like these, Rose could almost tolerate the boy yet at the same time couldn't even bear to be around him. She would grow so conflicted in those short amounts of time that she wouldn't know what to think until their gaze unlocked and it would all go back to normal again. It was best for things to remain normal, she decided.

They were currently in the Hogwarts library, and it was more or less true that Rosie had been doing work in the first place. Honestly, she'd just been giggling to her cousins and brother about silly things, but that mattered little now. The swine of a boy was annoying her and she'd try anything to get him off of her back.

"Hey Scorpius." Albus chimed, clapping the fellow Slytherin once on the back. The two were best friends, much to Rosie's displeasure. They'd hit it off the first day they came to Hogwarts and were introduced as dorm-mates. Of course it was a little awkward for the families back home, but they tolerated it for the sake of their children.

"Hello, Albus. I was just coming to ask for those notes in Potions. I was out yesterday, remember?" he said, finally ripping his gaze from the redhead and looking at no one but Albus.

"Busy snogging some slut, I presume." Chirped Rosie indignantly, scribbling nonsense on a piece of parchment just to seem busy and avoid contact with his eyes.

"Actually, I was out due to sickness. Though you bringing it up is quite peculiar. Jealous?" he inquired devilishly, cocking a single frosted eyebrow. To this Rosie simply inhaled deeply and exhaled with a sound close to a frustrated growl, flicking her eyes up from the paper at Scorpius without moving her head. She looked furious.

"Absolutely not, you pig. I bring it up because it's rare that I see you without your tongue down a poor, abducted, little girl's throat. It's hard to get that kind of trauma out of a person's mind, you know." She retorted, venom practically dripping from her tongue.

Louis and Roxanne giggled wildly at this until both Scorpius and Rose turned to face them with the identical wrathful face. The two cousins then exchanged looks at each other, and confirmed that they were both thinking the same plan with the assured, synchronized nod. If the rest of the group would have noticed this trading of looks, they would have been prepared to the mischievous imps. But alas, they were not.

"I'll have you know that all of my partners are very willing to do so. How could I blame them though?" he asked, gesturing to his face unashamedly.

"Partners? More like victims." Rosie snorted

"You really are insufferable, you know."

"Likewise, Malfoy."

"Guys, guys, can you knock it off?" Albus moaned, still rifling through his knap sack in search of the desired notes. "Your guys' bickering is driving me insane."

"Well, it's not my fault. " Rose pouted, her lower lip protruding, arms crossed, and back hunched. She could have passed for four years old if she was about two feet shorter and lacking a womanly figure. Despite her intelligence, Rosie was honestly pretty childish.

After a short silence, Roxanne tapped Louis under the table, signaling for their maneuver to begin.

"You guys are being ridiculously immature. I'll bet you a two hundred sickles that you couldn't last even one month together." He cooed, subtly trapping the two into his plan.

"I could do it for a two hundred sickles." Scorpius responded quickly, seeking any opportunity to make profit. Roxanne silently cheered inside. Now the only obstacle was to get Rosie to agree.

"Really? How about you, Rosie?" the beautiful, devious, genuine daughter of George Weasley inquired.

"What? No wa-" she began, only to be interrupted by Louis.

"Roise, please tell me you're not too chicken to take on this snake." he said, as if disgusted.

"Of course not!"

"So you do accept the bet?"

"Hey, I never said-"

"So you're going to let this prick walk away, smug that he was able to walk over you? Honestly?"

"Excuse me, you stupid little-" Scorpius started defending himself before he was cut off by a tanned hand in his face, belonging to Roxanne. It was like it was natural for Roxanne to man-handle her younger years. She was really too bold for her own good.

"Rosie, think of your honor!" she cried, exaggerating like a drunken bard.

"Fine!" she cried, frantic and slightly confused by the incredibly fast moving conversation. With this conclusion, Roxanne stood up and slammed her hands on the table.

"Glad to have made business with you two. Here are the rules: You must pretend to be a couple as in boyfriend and girlfriend- for precisely 31 days. If anyone other than Al, Louis, you two, and I catch onto the fact that you're faking your affections, you lose. If you make it through the month without arousing any suspicions, the award is yours. I make a Weasley Honor Pact that your payment will be paid in full, no compromises or tricks if you are to win." She said as if she were the host of some tournament, voice official in business-mode.

Louis too stood, straightening his expensive French clothing which rivaled Scorpius's. "I wish you luck. And with that, adieu. " They both walked away side by side, more than likely off to find Fred and James to cause more ruckus in the castle.

The silence was uncannily awkward, Rose coughing and shifting in her seat, Scorpius massaging his temples and closing his eyes. All was silent spare a certain blackette Slytherin who was still searching for the notes that started this all. Both of the sixth years were searching through the events prior, trying to figure out just how this had happened.

"Found it!" Albus cheered perkily

* * *

**A Word from the Author:**

Hello, all! I'll be honest to you, there's not too much thought put into this little guy. More than anything, I was writing this as quickly as possible just for the sake of pleasing my cravings for ScorpiusxRosie. I'm unsure of what the length will be like, though it will probably be about fifteen to twenty chapters total.I feel kind of guilty for how I set this up, what with the typical "bet" ordeal and the complete lack of originality. Just consider this light, fluffy reading. There's not much consequence to it. Still, I'm hoping we both enjoy ourselves creating this. : )

That being said, I will probably play around with some of Rose and Scorpius flaws later on and more than likely prod at their dysfunctional relationship. In any case, this should invoke at least some emotion by the end. I promise you an ending, and I refuse to drag this out farther than it should be. That's how most great things get ruined. :O

ALRIGHTY, now that I've warned you of what to expect, I'd like for you to give me some feedback! Reviews and criticism are more than welcome.  
Thanks for reading.


	2. Compromise

**The Bet **

_Chp 2, Compromise_

"Merlin's pants, what have I done?" were the airy, whispered words that echoed throughout a particular dorm room in Hogwart's castle. This room contained a good variety of female students, but most importantly, contained a certain Rose Weasley. Despite the late hour, Rose was quite awake at that time, wide ocean blue eyes glued onto the ceiling above her. She lay awake as rigid as a plank of wood and as unforgiving of herself as a death is towards its victims. Over and over she reprimanded herself for agreeing to the bet as the scenes that took place earlier that day replayed again and again in her ever-tinkering mind.

She blamed it solely on Roxanne and Louis (which, of course, was pretty accurate) but she still berated herself for allowing her to be swindled so easily. 'What am I going to do?' she thought hopelessly. Just the idea of her being civil towards Scorpius Malfoy made her gag. If she was forced to be lovey-dove-all-the-time with him, she reckoned that by the first day she'd hop off the Astronomy tower to save herself. Images of Rose Weasley's demise flashed before her eyes, imagining all the possibilities that could occur if she followed through with her side of the bet.

"NO!" she screamed, sitting up quick enough to give herself whiplash. A couple of disgruntled "Rosie, shut up!"s from her dorm mates was enough to make her ease back down into bed. But Rose had already decided: Under no circumstances would she allow this game to continue. She would call it off tomorrow, inform all the participants that she refused to do it. Yes, this was certain: Rose Weasley would NEVER be an item, fake or not, with Scorpius Malfoy.

* * *

"Oh no..." Rosie muttered to herself as Andrew Thomas shuffled over to her, a determined look in his face. It was a well-known fact that Drew Thomas- son of the famous Dean Thomas- was still not over Rose, who had dumped him a few months ago. Their relationship was great in the beginning (dating all the way back to third year) and it hadn't be until the start of sixth that they began fighting. When I say "fight", I mean exploding volcanoes and massacres kind of fighting. There was screaming, and crying, and a good amount of slapping by Rose. Rosie finally ended it after she had caught him cheating and, when she confronted him, he called her a slimy slut. That was enough to give him a broken nose and Rosie a continued temper-tantrum for a week straight. She had not been over Drew at the time, but looking back she was entirely sure that she was 100% over him _now_. Drew tried to deny it at first, assuming that she'd come back and apologize for the broken nose and want to get back together, but after a couple weeks he understood that Rose was serious about the break up. Now, any time he got, he tried to persuade Rose to take him back. Drew was a nice, attractive guy. He just wasn't for Rose.

"Rose, I gotta talk to you." he said, his deep brown eyes pleading her to just listen. "No, I really can't, Drew. I have to go... get breakfast." she insisted, trying to side step him. He wouldn't be stopped, hopping directly in her path again. "Drew, stop." she warned in that voice you use when you're exasperated but don't wish to hurt someone's feelings. He put one hand on either shoulder, ducking his head around to try and force Rosie to look him in the eyes. She avoided eye contact at all costs. As mentioned in the previous chapter, when Rosie looked in Scorpius's eyes, the lines blurred between their relationship. The same went for Drew. As soon as she was captured in his perfectly slanted chocolate eyes, she couldn't help but get sucked up in their past, reminiscing about all the times he'd looked at her like this and she enjoyed it. Those eyes used to be what she lived for, so looking back at them brought back unwanted feelings. They stood there like this for a minute or two, Rosie staring at the ceiling as inconspicuously as possible, and Drew waiting for her to look at him. She couldn't deal with this. Rosie began to squirm under his hands and just as she was going finally build up the courage to look at him, and probably loose control...

"Drew, my boy!" called a overly-happy and obviously sarcastic Roxanne Weasley, pulling him apart from Rose and ultimately saving her cousin. "What do you think you're doing?" she asked, that fake broad smile plastered across her face, her eyes blinking repeatedly as she waited for a response. When he could only answer with baffled stutters and a plethora of 'um's and 'uh's, Roxanne pounced. "You do realize that Rose Weasley, Rosie Posie, Rose without the thorns, our one and only flower child... is dating someone else, right?" she asked while raising her eyebrows, her smile still as large as ever but her atmosphere turning borderline terrifying.

"What? Is this true, Rose?" asked Drew, looking as if he'd just been hit by a semi truck.

"Of course it's true! Why would I say it if it weren't' true?" Roxanne snapped, getting feisty like she did best. "She's dating Scorpius Malfoy." she said matter-of-factly, and a little too loud for comfort.

"WHAT?" cried Sean Finnigan, spitting out his water all over the carpet and turning to face Rose with accusing eyes. "You're dating Scorpius Malfoy? As in Slytherin Scorpius Malfoy? As in Malfoy the snake himself? As in the boy you've waged war with for your ENTIRE LIFE?!" he screamed, jumping out of his chair and shaking Rosie by the shoulders. "Are you daft, girl? What's gotten into you?"

Rose was about to deny it, and call off the bet... but she peeked a glance at Drew to find that he was retreating solemnly. Normally it'd take an entire stampede of elephants to get him off of her back and yet he had just left so quickly. That's when she decided that maybe the bet wasn't such a bad idea. It kept her personal stalker at bay, and Rosie would gladly take a year's vacation in the Forbidden Forest to do that. Maybe pretending to date Scorpius Malfoy wasn't such a bad idea after all. Maybe it would work to her advantage. "Answer me, woman!" Sean cawed, gently play slapping her face a couple times to get her attention again. Rosie would have gotten mad if he wasn't one of her best friends. Everything Sean did was ridiculous and over the top, so it was to be expected.

"What can I say? I'm a sucker for cold, heartless men." she said, waving him off like a cat. He sighed and shook his head as she ripped herself from his grasp and started heading towards the door. She wondered how everyone else would react to her new boyfriend. She could only imagine how James, Fred, and Hugo would react. Teddy would find out in a week or two after the gossip spread in, so she was safe for a while from him. The girls (Domonique, Victoire, and Lily) would all probably say that 'they knew it would happen eventually' or some crap. All the women in her family pretended to be Cupid.

* * *

"Hello, darling." purred the extremely pale, gray eyed boy known as Scorpius Malfoy as he slipped an arm around Rose's shoulder. He had thrown a sneak attack and startled her as she was walking in to the Great Hall. Her first reaction was the throw his arm off of her and snarl "Watch it, Malfoy." a ferocity so great that she resembled an attack dog barring its teeth. Her eyes glowed like they always did when she felt passionately about something.

"Rosie baby, our fans are watching. Pull your act together and stop acting like such a slob." he said sweetly while replacing his hand on her shoulder again. His air was that of a perfect boyfriend, caring and infatuated, but his words were still as venomous as ever. Rose allowed the hand to stay there but she was so tense that it looked like a snake and a robot were walking with each other. Scorpius stilled smiled, flashing his perfectly pearly whites while Rose had the biggest scowl known to man on her face. Everything about her screamed "I hate him!" and before long, people were giving them peculiar looks, pointing and whispering as they passed. Scorpius let out a strained sigh and made a complete U-turn, dragging Rose with him. He lead them straight out of the Great Hall and into a nearby closet, where he shut the door and spun around to look at her.

The closet was small and full of stuff, so they were forced to stand as close as partners stand when they're slow dancing. He ducked his head down to look at her, a pretty dramatic height difference between the two. "What the HELL are you doing?" he demanded angrily, his eyes flashing in the dimly lit space. "We're supposed to look like a couple, not a chipper police man hauling off a contemptuous prisoner! You're going to ruin things for the both of us, and that's rather selfish of you." he ended, cooling down as soon as he said it. He sighed and leaned against the wall, closing his eyes. "You're the worst actress I've seen in my entire life, Weasley. I thought you'd be relatively decent... or at least scrap-able, but honestly?" he mused nonchalantly.

"I am not!" she denied, though she knew he was completely and 100 percent true. Rose had always had the problem of controlling her emotions. They just kind of radiated from her and there was no use trying to stop it. "You're just too big of a critic." At this he merely snorted. "I'm being serious! You're a perfectionist, a critical cynic. And it doesn't help that we both loathe each other." she continued, on a rant now.

"There is not too much of a difference between loathing and loving, Weasley." he stated

"Oh, so now you're a poet? Get a life and stop quoting Wilde." she snapped.

"You're the bloody worst. I've never met someone I could dislike so much, and I'm pretty good at disliking. Every other girl is nice, flirty, and cooperative. They're like rays of sunshine. I'll have you know you're quite the opposite, like you're some sort of rain cloud hovering over my head. At least other girls who are like you are ugly, and then it's easy to see that they're uninteresting. You're a trap. It's like a temperamental toddler boy is stuck inside a pretty teenager's body." he retorted back. "And you're a damn awful actress. Let's never forget the actress part."

Rosie said nothing, silently furious. His words were so brutal, his serpent's tongue licking at her unstable heart. She'd show him what a bloody fantastic actress she was if it was the last thing she did. She was now determined to prove the pathetic rich boy that he was wrong, to make him eat the very words he just said. With a final driven nod, very similar to ones that soldier's do in war movies before they do something spectacular, Rose got her flirt on. "Come on, Scorpy, I'm hungry." she giggled, flipping her hair and batting her eyelashes coyly. She even went so far as to grab hold of his hand and drag him back to the Great Hall. Scorpius made a face signifying just how shocked he was, thinking to himself how bipolar his new "girlfriend" was. However, as soon as they reached a place where people could see them again, he went along with the game and pretended he was enjoying every minute of it.

At the part of the Hall where you turn to your separate tables, they both went opposite ways, Rose heading for Gryffindor and Scorpius for Slytherin. Rose cocked one eyebrow questioningly but kept her composure. "Come on dear, we need to sit down and eat." she said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Their hands were stilled intertwined, and she tugged him towards the familiar red and yellow colored table. Scorpius's mouth made a tight line, his annoyance just barely veiled. Everyone in the hall was looking at them, waiting to see who sat where and which person wore the pants in the relationship. Everyone's loud chatter became very quieted murmurs and then eventually, it was dead silent. Both their prides were so dangerously important to them and neither was willing to give up their dignity.

"I know, honey. So why don't we sit down?" he agreed, but nodded his head at his own green and silver table. "I really am starving." he added, tugging her forward, much harder than she had done to him. She staggered forward. Her smile was slowly creeping into a look of disgust again, a frustrated growl escaping her throat.

"Indeed. Let's get some food at the table." she said, yanking him forward hard enough that he stumbled and almost fell to the ground and had to put on a circus wire-walker routine just to keep his balance. A triumphant grin resurfaced on her face at the sight of him looking like a fool.

"Sit down, sweet heart." he cooed venomously, now dragging her across the room to her table. She dug both her heels into the ground and leaned back with all of her might. Rose always did anything possible to win, and when it came to competitions, she became the most courageous. Though she was at a 45 degree angel with the ground and she was starting to get red in the face, she did not quit. When she realized she was still being dragged by the Slytherin, she began to step backward. It became a game of tug-of-war, both fighting for all their might.

In the end, Rose ended up pulling too hard and slipped, falling onto the floor. However, she brought Scorpius tumbling down with her and he landed sprawled out on top of her. Now, this was not one of those scenes that happen so gracefully, where the boy lands perfectly atop the girl and they and girl realize that they secretly have feelings for each other, normally resulting in a kiss or a cutesy little blush. It was far from it. Scorpius's long gangly limbs were everywhere and his face landed directly onto the floor, giving him a bloody nose. Rose on the other hand, was knocked out from hitting her head so hard when she originally fell. This is normally the end result when you have two very forceful, very competitive people against each other.

Scorpius's groans of pain couldn't be heard over the round of applause started by Louis Weasley that thundered in the massive room. "Such a cute couple, wondrously in love." he hollered to Roxanne, pretending to wipe a tear from his eye. "The truest thing you've ever said, my dear cousin." she agreed, clapping with her hands above her head.

"We're brilliant matchmakers." they chimed at the same time.

* * *

**A Word from the Author:**

I rather like this chapter. :) Reviews are more than welcome!


	3. Hospitality Hospital Style

**The Bet**

_Chp 3, Hospitality Hospital Style_

Rose awoke in the infirmary, her head pounding in ways she only thought happened in books. An involuntary unfeminine groan escaped her chapped lips, a huge pout coming on. Rose was the queen of pouts, her puppy dog eyes and full lips perfect for creating an adorable yet equally annoying look. She didn't even bother opening her eyes before she switched to a defeatist mode.

"I feel like a bucket full of hippogriff crap." She whined aloud, speaking to herself. The room smelled of unpleasant potions, and all that could be heard was her own heart beat which was amplified by millions due to her head injury. She could hear every pump of blood circulating her body, steady and slow.

"You look it, too." a very familiar voice said from beside her, the smooth, melodic words sending jolts of energy through her body. She blamed it on her own dislike for boy. Her eyes shot open in a scowl, looking him up and down.

"What are you doing here, Malfoy?" she snapped, sitting up too quick and causing her vision to blur white, a dizzying nausea overtaking her. She restrained the urge to vomit. "And why do I feel so bloody terrible?" she whined again, throwing her hands up in the air. She was being quite flip-floppy, an emotional roller coaster. She was not very tolerant to pain.

"It's the syrup Ms. Pomfrey gave to you to prevent comatose." He explained evenly, his calm demeanor just making Rosie even more angry. "She said it'd have a couple side effects, but she didn't tell me it'd make you look so atrocious. Otherwise, I would have taken the risk of you being out forever. That'd be a great sob story, wouldn't it? 'My girlfriend has been a vegetable for a year now, and it's all my fault' would have gotten me a good amount of 'sympathy' from the girls around here…" he said, still as nonchalant as he had in the beginning of the conversation.

Rose gave him an appalled look. "You're so pig-headed! Honestly! Is the only thing you think about women? " she inquired, disgusted. It bugged her beyond belief how womanizing Scorpius was. His using of other people for his own snogging pleasures did not fly well with her. He was a prefect for Merlin's sake!

"Well, attractive ones. Not women- or should I say girls- like you. I'm being serious, Weasley, you look atrocious. I don't know if I'll be able to escort you out of here until you fix yourself up." He hypothesized in what seemed like all seriousness.

"Oh, come on. I can't possibly look that bad!" she cried, having had enough of his prodding at her looks. Everyone else seemed to think she was considerable pretty… unless they were lying to her. Which she supposed could be a possibility. Was she actually a hog like Scorpius said…? She had never had an ounce of insecurity before Malfoy came in and tainted her mind with his constant ragging. Scorpius provided her with a mirror.

In the reflection, she saw a sickly pale face, borderlining on gray-colored, rimmed with wild, unkept orange-red hair. Her eyes had deep-set, dark bags underneath them and her lips were cracked with dehydration. Okay, so maybe she did look that bad. "Whatever, Malfoy. You act as if the only thing that matters is appearance and I happen to know that's not the truth. Take you for example: your slimy personality makes you fugly in everyone's eyes."

"Are you admitting that you think I'm physically attractive, Rose dearie?" he cooed, picking up her hand. She tore her petite fingers from his long, slender ones as quickly as possible.

"I am not! You're not the least bit handsome." She said defensively, though she knew it was a lie. Scorpius was indeed very pleasing to the eyes. With his perfectly sculpted face, gleaming beautifully messy hair, Quidditch player's physique, and his smoldering thunder cloud eyes… Scorpius was just plain glorious. If he didn't have such a stank attitude, Rose would more than likely have pursued him instead of rivaled him.

"You know bloody well I'm extremely attractive. You've got yourself a catch of a boyfriend. You're one lucky girl. Do you know how many people would kill for this position?" he continued cockily.

"Excuse me while I open the window, I have the air some of this arrogance out." She said, actually taking the effort to wobbly stagger to the window and pry it open, her legs almost giving out a couple of times due to Ms. Pomfrey's "medicine".

"Oh, that's clever, Rose. I must applaud you on your wit." He said sarcastically, though there was some truth in his words. From across the room, she growled in frustration. She could never win with this kid. And we all know how important winning is to Rose.

"Why are you here?!" she cried again, not having received an answer the last time she asked. She threw her arms out to the side, becoming animated like she always did when she got heated. After doing so, she had to stable herself with the window seal because the threat of toppling over was getting pretty real.

"First I had to go to the infirmary as a patient because that you broke my nose after your little hissy fit at breakfast. I'll have you know that your cloak got my blood all over it in the process. Ms. Pomfrey is now washing it and spelling the stain away. " he explained, recalling that morning.

"Why did you stick around, though? Do you just enjoy tormenting me?"

"Well, yes. But the reason I stayed was because that's what a good boyfriend would do. It'd be awfully suspicious if I left my girlfriend alone in the infirmary after we got in a fight resulting in her getting knocked out. You were like a rock, let me tell you. You've been out a whole five hours."

Scorpius really did have a way of talking too much, Rose noted. It was as if he just enjoyed to hear his own electrifying voice. Rose couldn't find the right words to respond to that. She didn't even know how she felt about it. She was almost touched that he had stayed by his own free will, despite the fact that his reasoning was so robotic. Luckily, Rose didn't have to say anything, because at that time, Ms. Pomfrey flitted into the room. Upon arrival, she gasped.

"Weasley, what are you doing out of bed? " she scolded, shooing her back to her frumpy white mattress. "And you, Malfoy, should be ashamed of yourself. What sort of prefect allows his girlfriend to jeopardize her health?" She was like a mother hen, tutting at her children chicks. There were a couple mumbles of apology from the both of them and she just gave them a suspicious look for a couple seconds before filling a spoon with some kind of rancid remedy . She popped it straight into Rose's mouth with no warning, leaving the red head gagging on both the terrible tasting medicine and her own surprise.

"You'll have to stay here for another hour or two to make sure you don't fall over in the hallways and injure yourself again. After that, you're free to go." She said, handing Rose her wizard's cloak, freshly washed. Ms. Pomfrey then exited the room once more, leaving the two alone again.

There was a quietness for a long time, both just thinking. That was one of the few things in common between the two: they could enjoy a good think. Rose's mind raced as she thought of anything, everything, and nothing all at the same time but she mostly thought of Scorpius. There had to be something underneath his cold exterior. There was no way someone could truly be so mean inside and out.

"Hey, Scorpius." She said staring at the ceiling from her place in bed.

"Hm?" he asked, eyes closed as he sat in the uncomfortable chair.

"Thanks for sticking around." She said genuinely.

"Mm." was his response, though if you looked hard enough you could see a slight grin tugging at the ends of his lips.

"Hey, Scorpius?" she said again after a pause.

"Yes?" he purred.

"Do you really think I'm ugly?" she asked, hoping for a moment of honesty.

"Of course, Weasley." He replied, a full on smirk on his face. He flicked his slitted eyes to look at her reaction. She looked positively devastated. She turned over in the bed to face him instead of the ceiling, a pleading, panicked expression plastered on her face. He chuckled at how sincerely young she looked, like a frightened four year old.

When she realized that he was messing with her, she glowered and threw her pillow at his face. "You bloody jerk!" she growled, to which his chuckles only grew. His laughter rung throughout her office until Rose, too, began to laugh. Neither quite knew what was so funny, yet they laughed and laughed and laughed, glee bubbling in the air between them.

"No, but really… you should probably comb your hair or something." Said Scorpius as he was wiping a tear from his eye. Rose instantly sobered up, eyeing him moodily.

"You're impossible to please, Malfoy."

"You're impossible in general, Weasley."

"I still hate you. Don't think that because we shared a couple chuckles I all of a sudden like you." She said flatly, being as frank as Frank himself.

"I hate you too, my wonderfully chipper girlfriend. You're still my biggest rival and number one on my list of prats."

"Why are you calling me your girlfriend when there's no one around? We don't have to pretend here, Scorpius." She inquired, raising her fine eyebrows in curiosity.

"It has a certain ring to it, I think. And we have to start the habits now, or else when we're in public we might accidentally say 'I love you, swine.' Instead of a term of endearment. I've got this all mapped out in my head, Rose. Don't worry." He answered sarcastically, his signature grin gracing his face.

"You're a daft, sketchy, and all-in-all revolting boy, Malfoy." she informed him, her tone flat and casual, as if they were talking about the weather.

"And you love me all the same." He cooed, patting her hand. Rose ran a hand through her hair and hopped out of her seat, an irritated sigh rumbling from her throat. She grabbed her things and walked back to her dorm, uttering a short, half-hearted farewell to Scorpius. She needed to think, and she definitely could not concentrate anymore with her butt-headed companion.

She passed by all the people in the common room without saying so much as a "hello" and ignoring everybody who tried to interrogate her. It had been a long, long day. Rose desired nothing more than to curl up in her sea of blankets and think about how much she disliked Scorpius. So that was exactly what she did.

"There's not too much of a difference between loathing and loving, Weasley." could not be shaken off of her mind, as she fluttered to sleep.

* * *

**A Word from the Author: **

This chapter was a pain to write. It was just kinda dull and... blah. Review please!


	4. Jealousy at its Best

**The Bet**

_Chp 4, Jealousy at its Best_

The next weeks that passed went by more smoothly than anyone could have ever expected. Before long, they were able to tolerate each other's presence without huge, catastrophic fights exploding in the air. People began to notice a difference in the way they acted together, everyone whispering about how though Rose and Scorpius still bickered, it didn't feel like they were ever genuinely upset anymore. It was a friendly teasing, healthy competition, couple's taunting. Rose herself hadn't noticed this famous change one bit, and she'd swear up and down to anyone she was allowed to (herself, Albus, Roxanne, Louis, and Scorpius) that she still despised the guy more than words could say.

"You don't think that you guys have been getting along rather well lately?" Albus asked one day while they studied underneath the tree by the lake. The day was bright and pleasant, a comfortable breeze swaying through the branches and a quiet beauty issuing from the grounds. The matter of the fact was, it was a wonderful day outside and it seemed to have reflected on everybody who noticed. Rose hadn't heard a single professor nagging, any first years crying, or an unexpected battle between students. In fact, Rose herself found that she was at peace as she hummed a nameless tune while scribbling down notes.

"No, not at all," she said casually, as if she was only half-paying attention and speaking more to her parchment than to Albus "We, uh, we fought over whether the pudding tasted good just last night, didn't we?" She continued writing as she spoke, not even bothering to give her best friend a peek at her deep sea blue eyes.

"Oh come on, Rosie. You know that fight was watered down. Had it been before the whole bet, you two would have ripped each other's faces off." He piped, pressing the line between upsetting Rose and keeping her calm. He knew he was treading on thin ice, but he figured that absolutely nothing would be accomplished with doing nothing. Rose huffed and shut her books, flicking her face over at him.

"Al, what are you getting at? Don't tell me you're one of those idiots who believe that Scorpius and I could possibly have fondness for each other. I have no idea why everyone just ate this story up." She said, shaking her head in disbelief. She was almost offended by how little struggle it took to making everyone believe they were a couple.

"I'm just sayin'." he mused, ripping his eyes from her and flipping through the pages of his book, not wishing to face the wrath of Rose's unmerciful gaze.

"Just sayin' what, exactly? I don t know how to make this more clear to you, but I do not like Scorpius Malfoy- not even as a friend!"

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"Good afternoon, darling. I got you those notes from Potions." Scorpius drawled, boredom etched all over his pale face. Rose reckoned he was the single handedly most condescending person in the world, always seeming to speak down to her rather than simply speak to her. He was analytical and calculative, and extremely shady, all together creating a psychological tyrant. Rose seriously doubted whether someone had ever been able to unravel through the barricade of arrogance he'd built around himself. Just who had the power to do that? Was it a girl? She didn't think that anyone of the little skanks he'd snogged had ever bothered to get to know Scorpius on a deeper level, or even any of his so-called friends for that matter. It was in that moment that Rose realized that Scorpius- though surrounded by friends and admirers- must have felt awfully alone. "Just what are you staring at, Rose? I don't think I said anything strange. I suppose I can t blame you for wanting to take a peek at my beautiful self."

Rose hadn't noticed that she'd been staring at the boy, though obviously not intentionally. Her head lay gently in her graceful palm, a contemplative expression painted across her freckled face. She instantly shook her head and blinked her eyes a couple times, trying to find some reason to excuse herself from acting so queerly. She didn't particularly feel like being sassy to Scorpius at the moment. After spending so much time with him, the novelty of constantly facing the chores of thinking a witty comeback lost its charm. Besides, she was much too drained from a full day of working to feel anything other than apathy and acute annoyance. "Uh, sorry. I was just thinking." She said dismissively, waving her hand to signal that the conversation s topic should be switched.

Scorpius made a sound close to a grunt of agreement, and sat in the chair beside her, simply dropping the notes he'd brought on the table. The loud thump struck through the silence like a knife through an apple. They were currently in the near-empty library, so the loud noise contrasting with the silent library was enough to frazzle any person. She gave him an irritated scowl, but no more. Rose looked absolutely exhausted. Though she still retained her natural beauty, she wasn't looking as nice as she usually did. There was a certain dullness to her, her curly red hair not nearly as shiny, her face not nearly as flushed, her eyes not nearly as sparkly. All in all, she looked just about as tired as she was.

Their N.E.W.T.s were coming up very soon, and they both had the intention of getting excellent marks on it. Therefore, a lot of time had been spent in the library. At first, they'd both gone separately. Rose would walk in and be annoyed beyond expression to find that Scorpius, too, was there studying. A few days past and they realized it was silly to be sitting a few feet from each other and not study together, so they joined forces. Before long, they just automatically went with each other each night to the library without much complaint. It was more efficient and less boring to study with a partner, and that was a fact even the stubborn Rose had to admit.

Rose slammed her face into her arms on the table in defeat, hiding her face in the crook of her elbow and sighing dramatically. "Thes tho mush wor." she mumbled into her soft skin, before turning her head so she could look at the blond boy next to her.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't quite hear you over your arm fat. Mind repeating?" he asked sweetly. Rose hated how horribly facetious he was, belittling others with his patronizing tone and sugar-sweet words. He said the rudest things in the nicest ways, which really got under her skin. What bothered her even more was that he never really emoted much of anything. How he was able to cause such a rise out of her without being affected by anything she ever she drove her crazy. He only had two different modes: annoyed and amused. She honestly couldn't remember in all five years she'd known him, a single time he'd raised his voice, or ever even appeared to be upset.

"There's so much work." She looked at him with irritated eyes, but nonetheless repeated what she'd said. To this, Scorpius only nodded his head and pulled out his books, flipping through notebooks and parchment and sorting through quills. Rose wasn't sure what she would have replied to that, but she needn't worry about it anyway because at that precise moment, she was distracted by a peculiar situation. Just beyond the book shelf nearest to her table, a gaggle of giggling girls peered coyfully at Scorpius. They'd peek out from behind the wall of books to point and blush and exclaim how 'he's just so sexy!'. Rose thought she was going to puke it was so nauseating. She even went so far as to feign illness and pretend to be vomiting in her hands, much to Scorpius confusion.

"For Merlin's sake, what are you doing?" he inquired, looking at her as if she actually had up-chucked all over her robes. Rose still kept up her sick facade, acting like she was going to speak a couple times before cutting it off in a faux gag. She continued this until the blond boy let out a frustrated "Rose." in which case she gave him a dead panned straight face and pointed to the girls. Scorpius turned his head towards them and gave them a friendly wave, much to Rose's disapproval. Their faces were of shock and embarrassment at being so blatantly caught with their hands red. It quickly changed to boiling outrage directed towards Rose who had been the one to do it to them. Rose only chuckled deviously, and might as well have been rubbing her hands together and laughing maniacally.

The group of four, two Ravenclaw and two Hufflepuff, had a gang meeting consisting of hushed whispers and seething looks before one of the girls, Lauren Gibbs, flounced over to their table. She glared at Rose for a moment and then immediately flipped her composure as she looked at Scorpius adoringly. She gave a disgustingly sweet smile and leaned over just enough that her unimpressive cleavage was clearly seen. Rose did everything in her power to stop herself from punching herself in the face, but she honestly couldn't help but to make a stank face at her.

"Hey, Scorpius. What's up?"she asked, a flirtatious smile playing on her lips. The question is what had thrown Rose off guard. It seemed much too vague to possibly be what she'd come over for. Scorpius too found the question odd, and he shook his head while replying with a befuddled "Uh, not much."

"Oh, cool. I was wondering if maybe you wanted to go with me to Hogsmeade next weekend?" she asked, and then the question Rose had been asking herself ( _'Why is she here?_' ) was suddenly very clear. She was getting back at her for making her seem like an idiot (not a difficult task, have you) by flirting with her 'boyfriend'. The girl ripped her gaze from Scorpius for just a second to give Rose a malicious smile, but before she could blink, her eyes were glued hungrily back onto Scorpius body. Rose was positively furious. How dare this girl flirt with Scorpius _right in front of her_- the bloke's bloody girlfriend. I mean, Rose and Scorpius weren t actually a couple, but as far as this girl knew they were. The downright rudeness in her promiscuity made the red head teen want to blast her head off. She wrung her hands and ground her teeth, eying the twig's overrated body. She was sure that if anyone were to look at her in that moment, they would have either wet themselves or been turned to stone because she had never before felt such rage coursing through her veins than she did in that moment, and she had been told she had a wicked glare even when she was just mildly upset. _'It's alright, though. Scorpius will show this wrench who's in charge'._ she thought vengefully but little did Rose know, Scorpius did not have the same intentions that she thought he would.

"Oh, sure Lauren." he said casually, as if he hadn't just accepted a date from a whore but instead just ordered a hot dog.

"Excellent." The girl said, starting to bounce away.

"Wait a minute, wait a minute. No, Scorpius will not be accompanying you to Hogsmeade next weekend, nor will he ever. He has a girlfriend, you tramp. How dare you ask him that?" Rose hollered, flying from her chair and standing in a warrior's pose.

"Oh, is that right? I didn't know you got to decide who he did and didn't hang out with, Weasley. Jealous much?" the girl said, looking her up and down like she was filthy.

"I am _not _jealous. You're just a despicable human being!" she retorted poutily, still managing to seem more like a chipmunk or a four year old than an intimidating witch. In a hurry, Rose's wand was out of her robes and in her clenched hands. She found herself pointing the wooden instrument at the girl's neck, a ferocious snarl on her face. The girl matched her, but not quick enough for Scorpius to have gotten in between them. Scorpius was faced towards Rose and her back was at Lauren- something Rose was quite happy with. What she wasn't pleased with was the look he gave her, asking _'What in bloody hell are you doing?_' though he didn't say anything out loud.

"Scorpius, you can't... that's not allowed." She explained, suddenly feeling extremely foolish and guilty. For some reason there was a desperate pain clenching right in her chest, one she hadn't felt before. Betrayal, hurt, and anger all swirled together in a cauldron known as her mind. "If you do this, I swear to Merlin our little deal is over." She finally hissed, crossing her arms.

He gave her an insufferable sigh and shook his head, "Rose, _darling_ Rose, green does not suit you. She's just a friend. She's been my friend for years. Why am I not allowed to hang out with her at Hogsmeade just because I'm dating you?" he asked, and added a "Plus, we're not even dating." in a very quiet whisper. Lauren Gibbs stood there seething, not happy to have her back turned on by the boy she so obviously thought was attractive. "Rose, listen, why would I severe all ties with the women I associate with, when this only lasts another 13 days of this?"

Rose felt a sharp intake of breath when she realized that there was _only 13 days left._ She was suddenly very, very worried. Why? Who knew. All she knew is that 13 days did not sit comfortably with her. "No, Scorpius. You can't go with her because... um... The color blue does not go well with her skin tone. How could you want to go to Hogsmeade with a girl who doesn't even understand her color palete? I mean, it has to bother you. You're practically a gay designer, am I right?"

"Rose, she's forced to wear those colors. She's in Ravenclaw."

"... So?" she said childishly. "Please just don't do it. You only have to wait 13 days before you're snogging your skanks once more. Surely you can wait for that long?" He let out another sigh and glared daggers into her soul for a few moment before smiling sweetly once more.

"Yes, darling. Anything for you, darling." he said, and strutted back over to Lauren. Rose couldn't quite hear what he was saying, but it sounded very close to "Lauren, I won't be going with you to Hogsmeade. It was an error on my part to accept. I'm sorry." He then speedily trailed out of the large room, giving Rose one more irked look before opening the large doors. The gang of girls followed right on his heel. And that was how Rose found herself sitting alone in the library, glaring at her parchment but not writing anything at all. Why did she care so much that he agreed to going on the date? She didn't like him at all, this she knew, but she couldn't shake off the soreness that clung onto her chest. She guessed it was just the fact that the girl's behavior had been so out of line and so horribly vindictive, or maybe it was her pride that made it seem impossible to let any boyfriend of hers, fake or not, go out with other women.

For at least an hour she stayed there, not having moved an inch from her tense position, hunched over the table. She had always been the type to silently brood over simple things, dragging them out until it had gotten out of hand. Someone could take an animal cracker and by the end of the night, Rose could convince herself that they'd bombed Hogwarts. She didn't even twitch until a pitter patter of footsteps reached her ear and she instinctively flung her head up to see who was interrupting her silent isolation, only to find the familiar lime eyes of Albus Severus Potter gleaming concernedly at her. He shuffled the way only Al could shuffle, a modest motion that wasn't timid, but not at all arrogant either. "I, um Scorpius was kind of ranting to me in the common room and I figured I should probably see how you were, er, feeling." he said sheepishly. How would Albus have known she was upset? How could he have guessed that, if she couldn't even guess it? Of course Albus, the most thoughtful person in the world, would have known. Albus always seemed to know everything that had to do with other people, and just how to make things alright again. She was sure that they were connected by the mind.

In that moment, she was more grateful for her best friend than she could ever tell him. She got out of her chair to stand up next to him, staring into his bright eyes, speaking volumes with just a glance. Her slender arms wrapped around him in a melancholy hug that, quite frankly, Rose really needed. Albus simply hugged back, and just like that Rosie knew she'd be okay. No words were exchanged, but there was a mutual understanding: Rose cared about Scorpius more than she knew herself.

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**A Word from the Author:**

Wussup y'all? Sorry I'm late... by a lot. I finally figured out exactly where this story is going. Dramadramadrama is sure to come in the next couple chapters. By the way, I'm thinking there's going to be a total of about 10 chapters, so prepare for an ending~ :D I'm quite excited. It's now just a matter of extracting my thoughts and splattering them across the screen. **  
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